Chapter 19 “He is my wife.”

The pajamas were never found in the end.

Two hours later, Jiang Yao still left the house in front of Duan Zhuxian, swaggering out the door without saying where he was going, and Duan Zhuxian didn’t stop him anymore.

Halfway through, it started to rain. Jiang Yao drove to the hot pot restaurant and saw a man and a woman huddling under an umbrella in the rain from afar.

As soon as they saw him get out of the car, they both showed the same smile and even waved at him at the same frequency.

Sitting in the private room booked in advance, Jiang Yao asked the sweet couple across him, “Did you have fun in Northern Europe during this time?”

Both of them were his high school classmates. The man was named Wang Rui, a buddy from his volleyball team, and the woman was named Xia Zhi, a sister from his debate team. A few months ago, they had just ended their eight-year-long relationship and held a wedding. It was him who had originally set them up.

Upon hearing this, the couple looked at each other and smiled. Like an automatic feeder that had been switched on, they started to throw dog food around. When they talked about a Lover’s Tower in a small Nordic country, Wang Rui paused.

“It’s a coincidence, we actually ran into Hu Ye there.”

“Who?” Jiang Yao couldn’t remember for a moment.

“He tried many ways to get into our volleyball team, but his skills were not good enough and he didn’t make it. Even going through the back door was useless. But he transferred schools in his second year of high school…” Wang Rui hinted for a long time, but Jiang Yao still couldn’t remember. Then Wang Rui slapped his head and added, “It’s the one who pursued Duan Zhuxian.”

Jiang Yao has always had a hard time remembering people with mediocre qualifications, but when it comes to Duan Zhuxian, he has an impression and even recalls some of the other party’s deeds.

For example, this person doesn’t care about gender, specifically targeting young couples, using despicable means to steal someone’s partner, and has been denounced by many victims on the campus forum. In short, he is not an easy person to deal with.

Wang Rui sighed, “He wrote Duan Zhuxian’s name on the graffiti wall of the Lover’s Tower. I didn’t expect this guy, who is not of good character, to be a love-struck fool. After so many years, he still remembers him. He said he plans to return to Lingbei next month to bravely pursue love, but I don’t know if he has a chance…”

With a “thud”, Jiang Yao’s fingertips heavily knocked on the table, interrupting Wang Rui’s words.

“There’s no chance.”

“Huh?” Wang Rui choked.

“Duan Zhuxian is getting married.” Jiang Yao said expressionlessly.

“Oh.” Wang Rui nodded his head as if it was rusted, obviously not reacting.

Jiang Yao frowned, “You go and tell that Hu guy to stay in Europe, the motherland does not welcome him.”

As for Jiang Yao’s reaction, Wang Rui was a bit confused. In his memory, Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian had a general relationship, not much private interaction, and most of the meeting places were in the arena, with the rumor “the king does not see the king”.

But he still echoed, “Yes, yes, based on Hu Ye’s moral bottom line, who knows what he might do to destroy someone’s family.”

Jiang Yao hummed twice, and couldn’t help but curse Duan Zhuxian in his heart as a “blue-faced disaster”.^[1]藍顏禍水(lán yán huò shuǐ) = blue-faced disaster, is a Chinese phrase that is generally used to describe a certain type of relationship between two men. It refers to a relationship that is … Continue reading

As for Wang Rui’s joking words, he was really a bit worried. One Shen Tang was enough, and another Hu Ye popped out. If Duan Zhuxian made a mistake at that time and accidentally derailed, it would be a big change for both of their families.

Xia Zhi on the side was still in shock, after all, he was her idol during her girlhood.

She mumbled in wonder, “Who is so lucky to be able to tame a lofty person like Duan Zhuxian.”

Hehe, whoever wants this luck can take it.

Jiang Yao sneered, unable to resist pondering over the word “tame” mentioned by Xia Zhi, unconsciously curling his lips into a satisfied arc.

Halfway through the meal, Jiang Yao suddenly asked, “Have you guys been back to school?”

Xia Zhi was surprised, “Yes, how do you know?”

Jiang Yao pointed to the light green paper bag pressed under Xia Zhi’s backpack, with “Daydream” visible on the part sticking out.

Xia Zhi suddenly realized, “We went to see the old class in the morning. If it wasn’t for passing by, we wouldn’t remember this dessert shop.”

“Worthy of being my brother Yao,” Wang Rui gave a thumbs up, “You have a really good memory.”

Jiang Yao squinted his eyes and ignored the rainbow fart.

The first time he visited “Daydream” was in the early summer of his first year of high school.

At that time, the school held a debate competition, and the final match was between Jiang Yao’s class and Duan Zhuxian’s class, competing for the championship. The debate topic was “When dealing with people, frankness is more effective than forbearance in solving problems.”

After an afternoon of fierce competition, Jiang Yao’s debate team narrowly defeated Duan Zhuxian’s as the affirmative side.

Although friendship comes first and competition second, they are still young and hot-blooded. After a heated “argument”, it was hard to calm down for a while. After the event, both sides had bad faces and bumped shoulders in secret.

However, the two team leaders were not satisfied. They secretly sent messages to each other behind their teammates’ backs, agreeing to meet after evening self-study to continue discussing the debate topic.

So, the two people who were still confronting each other during the day, which was “the king does not see the king”, met secretly in a dessert shop that is about to close at night

They arrived too late, and the desserts were basically sold out, leaving only two cakes named “Hidden Affection”.

Jiang Yao sat under the light, staring at the plate brought by the waiter, and the halo in his eyes moved, “It’s actually a strawberry cake, what good luck.”

Duan Zhuxian asked, “Do you like strawberries?”

Jiang Yao didn’t answer, forked a plump red strawberry into his mouth, and looked up at Duan Zhuxian, “Which viewpoint do you agree with more in today’s debate topic?”

The affirmative and negative sides of the debate are determined by drawing lots, and do not necessarily represent the real attitude of the debater.

Would someone like Duan Zhuxian, who is as unattainable as a flower on a high peak, choose to compromise in order to take into account the feelings of others?

Jiang Yao didn’t think so at all.

Duan Zhuxian fiddled with the fork in his hand for a while before finally speaking lightly, “In some things, being too frank may lead to more loss than gain. Keeping silent can at least maintain the status quo.”

“Hey, hey, the debate is over.” Jiang Yao raised his eyebrows.

“It’s not a debate.” Duan Zhuxian said.

Jiang Yao was stunned for a moment, and muttered, “It sounds grand, but it’s actually just a coward’s mentality, right?”

After he finished speaking, he waited for a while, but Duan Zhuxian didn’t refute him. He didn’t know where the confrontational aura he had with him during the day had gone.

Jiang Yao pursed his lips, feeling that Duan Zhuxian’s aloofness disease had struck again, and silently ate all the strawberries on the cake.

Outside the restaurant door, there were two little boys arguing, pushing each other with a coin in their hands, fighting for the driving rights of the rocking car in the convenience store next door. One of them was the son of the supermarket owner next door.

Jiang Yao found it interesting, turned his head to look for a while, and planned to go over to mediate when they started fighting. When he turned his head back, a strawberry appeared in front of him, strung on a fork.

He followed the fork and saw the tail of the fork pinched in a long and clean hand.

“Open your mouth,” Duan Zhuxian said.

Jiang Yao was stunned, and as if possessed by a ghost, he did as he was told. After his tongue was stimulated by the sweet and sour juice bursting between his teeth, he subconsciously moved it twice. Before he could form a complete sentence, he was interrupted by two figures.

The originally quarreling children appeared at their table at some point, one with a sullen face, being pushed by the other who was more composed.

“We should learn from the big brothers, unite and love.”

The composed boy said earnestly.

The boy with the sullen face snorted and stood there stubbornly.

The composed boy blinked and continued, “So let’s make up, and I’ll let you play with the rocking car.”

Upon hearing this, the expression on the sullen-faced boy’s face wavered slightly. 

Suddenly, the shock of being fed strawberries by Duan Zhuxian dissipated, and Jiang Yao swallowed the sweetness in his mouth and laughed, deliberately propping his chin to tease the two boys, “The relationship between this brother and me is not as friendly as you think.”

They had just had a fierce debate in front of all the teachers and students of the school today, fighting to the death with words.

The class teachers on both sides were sweating throughout the process, especially during the final free debate stage. Both sides were so aggressive that they were afraid that their own pride would escalate from a verbal fight to a physical fight with the person on the other side.

The composed boy bit his finger, obviously unable to understand the meaning of Jiang Yao’s words.

To give away something precious to oneself for other, must mean that the other person is a very good friend—at least, that’s the extent of a child’s understanding.

“Do you guys fight too?” The boy with the sullen face who had been pursing his lips and not speaking suddenly opened his mouth.

Jiang Yao was about to respond when Duan Zhuxian cut in.

“We don’t fight, and you’re not allowed to fight in the future either. Cherish your current friendship.”

Perhaps it was Duan Zhuxian’s inherent serious aura that the two kids didn’t dare to make a sound in an instant. They holding hands, standing in line, and nodding obediently.

Jiang Yao also nodding along with them.

In the end, Jiang Yao came back to his senses, wondering why he was joining in the fun…

But he didn’t expect that Duan Zhuxian would actually use their relationship to educate two kids who were childhood friends.

At that moment, it would be false to say that he wasn’t moved.

And in the years that followed, if it weren’t for Duan Zhuxian giving him such illusions time and time again, how could he mistakenly believe that Duan Zhuxian was not as indifferent as he appeared on the surface, and that he also had a mutual understanding among friends?

But when he first tried to verify their friendship, Duan Zhuxian denied it.

Especially like those irresponsible scumbags, who have done everything they should do, and even deceived the feelings, but lightly said, “We are just ordinary friends.”

Old memories, like a receding tide, suddenly surged back, hitting him unexpectedly and leaving his chest feeling damp and heavy.

Probably because he was forced to live under the same roof, he always inexplicably remembered the past related to Duan Zhuxian recently, and it was all things that affected his mood.

Jiang Yao felt angry again.

After finishing the meal, he said goodbye to the young couple and stepped into the drizzly rain with an umbrella.

Once he got into the driver’s seat, he immediately brushed off the annoying moisture from his clothes and made a call to the club, instructing Amy to prepare some drinks and bring people to the villa in the northern part of the city tonight.

As soon as the sun set, the group of people he had called arrived on time.

Amy, who has seen countless people, has a very sharp eye. She could tell at a glance that there were traces of another young man’s life in this house.

In an instant, many unanswered questions about Jiang Yao had their answers—

No wonder Jiang Yao went to the club so many times, but never showed any normal man’s lust for the beautiful women around him. It turns out he is gay.

The others were still in the state of being possessed by Granny Liu who had just entered the Grand View Garden, and they were both surprised and amazed as they toured this extraordinary Chinese-style villa.

Only Amy, like a keen detective, stared at the half-open shoe cabinet with delight. Inside, there were two pairs of men’s shoes of different sizes.

“What’s making you grin so happily?”

From a distance, Jiang Yao followed Amy’s gaze.

Amy walked over to Jiang Yao and asked in a low voice, “Is Young Master Jiang cohabiting with someone?”

Jiang Yao responded nonchalantly, “Sort of.”

“No wonder you’ve been missing for a while.” Amy made a grimacing expression. Seeing that Jiang Yao rarely didn’t respond, she couldn’t help but ask again, “Can you reveal the identity?”

She still remembered a month ago, the ambiguous red mark on Jiang Yao’s wrist. According to Jiang Yao’s own account, it was the work of a “beast”.

She was very curious about who this “beast” was, who made Young Master Jiang give up his entertainment life and settle down at home to cohabit.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yao refused her ruthlessly, “No.”

Amy had no choice but to change her question and continue to gossip, “Then you called us over, will your partner at home be jealous?”

“Don’t worry, he won’t.”

Jiang Yao said decisively.

Although he and Duan Zhuxian didn’t have much tacit understanding, he still had confidence in Duan Zhuxian.

Amy wanted to say something else, but Jiang Yao put his arm around her shoulder, took out a megaphone from somewhere, and shouted at the others who were still looking around, “The free viewing time is over, everyone come here to gather, we are ready to play cards.”

*

A few kilometers away at the expo center, an auction had just ended.

Assistant Lin followed Duan Zhuxian out of the venue, walked into the VIP passage, and was still feeling lingering fears.

Two hours ago, the auction exhibited a church painting by a certain architectural master from the last century, with a starting price of two million.

To the layman, art is just something to buy for the sake of appearing cultured. Since this master’s main field was architecture, the bidders were somewhat disinterested.

Only Duan Zhuxian kept bidding relentlessly without blinking an eye.

The one competing with him was his half-brother, Duan Feiyi.

It wasn’t until the price had increased fivefold did Duan Feiyi give up.

Many people around were whispering, probably wondering why the two brothers from the Duan family were fighting over a painting with no fame.

But in the end, Duan Zhuxian didn’t win it. There was a problem with the auction item, and his expression darkened slightly upon finding out.

Assistant Lin suddenly realized that Duan Zhuxian’s rare attendance at the auction was probably just for this painting.

As they stepped out of the brightly lit venue, Duan Feiyi was waiting at the entrance of the corridor.

He walked over with his hands in his pockets, laughed ambiguously at Duan Zhuxian, and without getting any response, he started talking on his own, “I recently heard an interesting rumor. Someone said that the vice president of Hua Yan had a meal with several directors of Cheng’an Group at a resort last week. Is this true?”

Duan Zhuxian glanced at him and said, “Do your own job well, you don’t need to worry about other things.”

Duan Feiyi’s expression stiffened.

What he couldn’t stand the most was Duan Zhuxian’s attitude of acting like a big brother but never taking him seriously, as if he was too insignificant to even take shape in Duan Zhuxian’s presence.

It was Duan Zhuxian who was once not valued by the Duan family.

“Of course, I need to care about Cheng’an’s affairs. After all, I am the one who assisted Cheng’an in going public.” Duan Feiyi’s tone became a bit urgent, “Could it be that you saw Cheng’an go public and the stock price doubled in a short time, and regretted not getting the Cheng’an project?”

Duan Feiyi’s sarcastic words didn’t touch Duan Zhuxian at all, but they shocked Assistant Lin.

Although he is a life assistant and hardly participates in Duan Zhuxian’s work decisions, he also knows about Hua Yan’s investment in Cheng’an.

This project was originally fully managed by Duan Zhuxian. Who knew that as soon as Duan Zhuxian had everything in order, he was intercepted by Duan Feiyi and his mother.

After Duan Feiyi took over, he made several low-level mistakes. The old man Duan and Cheng’an’s boss had a close personal relationship, and they were quite dissatisfied with this. Fortunately, Duan Zhuxian was there to help clean up the mess, which calmed down the old man’s anger.

In the end, Cheng’an only takes Duan Feiyi, this young master, seriously, was just for the sake of Mr. Duan’s face.

He certainly knows that rich people have weak family ties, but he didn’t expect that Mr. Duan’s younger brother would be so ungrateful, it’s not an exaggeration to say he’s a straw bag^[2]草包(cǎobāo) = Straw bag. It’s a colloquial term used to describe someone who is considered incompetent or foolish..

Duan Feiyi has always been standing in front of Duan Zhuxian, walking backwards in a dangling manner, with a hint of malice in his expression.

Duan Zhuxian remained silent, taking out his vibrating phone to check unread messages, as if the person in front of him was just empty air.

“Brother really wants to compete with me for everything, from a small auction item to the opportunity to perform in front of the elders, even my wife is not spared.” Duan Feiyi said, licking his lips, “I’ve seen the photo, although it’s a man, but his face is pretty.”

Duan Zhuxian suddenly stopped, raised his eyes, and his sharp gaze instantly nailed Duan Feiyi’s nasty smile to his lips.

“He is my wife.”

The phone screen went dark, and Duan Zhuxian’s face was hidden in the dim night, making it hard to discern his emotions.

However, Duan Feiyi suddenly felt a sense of weakness in his legs, that thin, creeping chill from his back, as terrifying as being stared at by a venomous snake.

Assistant Lin cleared his throat. “Mr. Duan, please step aside.”

Duan Feiyi snapped out of his daze and quickly moved aside.

*

The wind was strong tonight, blowing from the north to the south, carrying a gentle rain over the other half of the city.

Assistant Lin sat in the car, observing and analyzing, always feeling that Mr. Duan’s face was as cold as ice. After a long period of contemplation, he tentatively spoke, “Mr. Duan, Mr. Jiang has posted on his Moments.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the ice began to melt.

[Today is a light rain turning cloudy, a bit sentimental, chatting with old classmates about the dessert shop at the west gate of the school, I wonder if the taste is still the same after eight years.]

Duan Zhuxian took over the phone, his gaze lingering on the word “sentimental” for a long time.

It was clearly a somewhat pretentious word, but when it came out of Jiang Yao’s mouth, it was irresistibly cute.

In fact, Jiang Yao is not a person who loves to reminisce about the past. Even on the day of the college entrance examination mobilization meeting, when he was invited to give a speech on stage, he only arrogantly said, “The past cannot be pursued, the future can be expected.”

Duan Zhuxian returned the phone to Assistant Lin, and an image of a bright red little fox with a wet tail from the rain appeared in his mind. He couldn’t help but reflect on whether he was too demanding of Jiang Yao when he was analyzing the pros and cons at noon.

He smiled helplessly.

Being arch-enemies, in fact, wasn’t that easy.

Compared to other intimate relationships with a high tolerance rate, it’s even more important to get the measure right, and occasionally you have to go with the flow.

Especially today, he indeed hid too many personal feelings.

He inexplicably remembered several years ago, that Christmas snow, Jiang Yao’s forced calm expression after a heartbreak, his misty eyes, and the force with which he pushed his hand away. He bristled all over, taking his sincere comfort as mockery.

It’s strange that he was born not knowing how to coax people, and he probably hasn’t made much progress to this day.

“Go to the Foreign Language High School.”

As they passed an intersection, Duan Zhuxian instructed the driver to turn around.

When they arrived, Assistant Lin got out of the car and waited on the side, watching Duan Zhuxian queue up to buy a cake among a bunch of high school students.

The scene was as discordant as it could be.

He heard some students whispering, discussing whether a certain celebrity was filming a reality show, and some people even secretly took out their phones to take pictures.

“Student, what would you like…” The young girl at the counter raised her head, unexpectedly bumping into the elite aura of a man in a suit and leather shoes, her face turned red instantly, and she immediately corrected herself, “Handsome… cough cough, sir.”

Duan Zhuxian pointed to the colorful glass cabinet and said softly, “One ‘Hidden Affection.”

The small gift has changed from a priceless manuscript to a cake worth a few tens of dollars. It’s unknown whether a certain picky young master would accept it with a smile.

*

When Duan Zhuxian returned home with a paper bag in hand, the living room was bustling with a party, and even the sound of him opening the door was drowned out.

The purple-haired woman he saw at the club, who was being hugged by Jiang Yao, was now half-lying on top of him, tickling his waist.

Jiang Yao was holding a deck of cards, laughing so hard that he was leaning from side to side. His eyes were misty from the alcohol, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with crimson, like peach blossoms blooming unabashedly in the spring water.

[Author’s Note]

Yao Yao, dangerous and captivating!